Not too long ago, I received an e-mail from my sister, who had moved to Turkey about a week or so earlier. She expressed surprise at not finding pita bread in the stores, but also mentioned she was having a hard time finding the traditional flat bread of Turkey. (Hadn't had time to do enough exploring yet.) Naturally, I was intrigued.
After a certain amount of Internet research, I found what seemed to be a few different kinds of basic flatbread from Turkey. One seems to be an awful lot like a tortilla, with olive oil instead of lard or shortening. Another is also cooked on the stovetop, but includes yeast and yogurt. But the one I tried first was this one, baked on my baking stone and producing more of a flat loaf, instead of individual portions.
I'll be frank: we didn't like it. But I figured I'd made enough mistakes in the process, it might well be attributed to my errors. I timed things incorrectly, resulting in some of the risen dough drying out in spots. I also, against my better judgement, actually followed the directions which said to put all the flour in a bowl, then pour in the liquids, then mix. (Yes, I was mixing by hand.) The resulting dough was supposed to be sticky, but instead, was about as dry as a biscuit dough which hasn't had that last required tablespoon of milk added. It took a lot of kneading to get the dough anywhere near pliable. The final product was rather dense (although the dough had risen), and thicker than I really thought it should be.
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| You can see the poor bread looks like the dough didn't manage to get very smooth . . . It was very dense. |
I suppose I should have tried the recipe again (preferably with my stand mixer and not adding all the flour at once), but I decided to try a different recipe, instead. (At least this author talked about mixing the dough in a mixer . . .) When I saw the temperature at which the bread was to be baked, I decided to try the baking stone again, instead of following the directions to use a baking sheet. (Hey, I followed the directions on that other one, and look what it got me!)
The results? Well, I don't know if it is authentic, but I sure liked it! (I'm not sure anyone can go wrong if there are sesame seeds involved . . .) My kids even asked for seconds, which they certainly didn't do last time, so it wasn't just me.
Soooo, here's how it went. <rubbing hands together>
Ingredients:
2.5 cups flour (I think I ended up using only about 2 cups, actually)
2 packages dry yeast (a little over a Tablespoon, with the yeast I use)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup warm water
Have ready:
1/4 cup warm milk
Sesame seeds
The preparation of the dough in a stand mixer is very similar to most yeast doughs. But there are a few differences. For one, after the yeast and water are mixed, it should be allowed to sit for about 20 minutes before it is added to the mixer. (No idea why, but, hey, it worked.)
For another, when the dough is ready to rise, instead of just covering the bowl with a paper towel, it should be covered with a wet towel or cheesecloth, or covered with plastic wrap. (I had accidentally purchased inferior plastic wrap, so I ended up going with the wet towel.) Why? Well, this dough rises a long time, and we really don't want that problem I ended up with the previous time, ie., the dried dough parts.
The first rise is about an hour, at which point the dough is very nice and fluffy. Punch down the dough and allow it to rise for another half hour. (Counting? We're up to an hour and a half of rising time. Now you know why we need that wet towel.)
Turn on the oven and preheat it to 475 degrees Fahrenheit.
In the mean time, divide the dough into two portions and roll each into balls. Allow the balls to set on a floured surface for about 15-20 minutes. (Nice time . . . just enough time for my oven to finish preheating, actually.)
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| After the dough has risen . . . |
Flatten the balls with your hands and start stretching them into a round or oval shape. (I picked round. I probably should have picked oval, as I ended up not being able to fit both rounds on my baking stone at the same time.) If you are using a baking sheet, instead of a baking stone, shape them on the baking sheet, with a little flour beneath them. I shaped them on my pizza paddle, even though I ended up picking them up to put them on the stone, instead of sliding them.
I was a little puzzled as to exactly how I was supposed to shape this dough until I remembered my extremely bad form in making pizza dough. Suddenly, it all became clear, especially as the author of the blog instructs the baker to press fingers in places in the dough to make it uneven. Hey, with the way I shape pizza dough, it's automatically uneven! I've got this down!
After the bread is shaped, if it is on a baking sheet, it can be immediately brushed with milk and sprinkled with sesame seeds, then placed in the oven. As I was using the baking stone, I waited until the bread was placed on the stone before brushing it with milk and sprinkling the seeds.
Bake on a baking sheet for 20-25 minutes, brushing again with warm milk every 5 minutes, until golden brown. I found that on the baking stone, 15 minutes was closer to the mark.
At any rate, the bread ended up crispy/chewy on the outside, fluffy on the inside, and very delicious. (Seconds? My kids asked for thirds . . . The recipe says it is best enjoyed warm, so I indulged them.)
I'm looking forward to trying the Turkish loaf recipe posted by the same blogger.
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